Plane crash during takeoff - 14 deaths, 22 injured

Plane crash during takeoff 

The aircraft during takeoff before dawn, lost altitude, broke through concrete wall, hit a two storey building, broke into two parts.
Out of 95 passengers and 5 crew, 14 persons died and another 22 persons were admitted with injuries.

The crash site is at the end of the runway.

It is unfortunate that persons lost lives, while others received injuries.

The aviation committee suspended operations of all planes of type same as that crashed.
It is stated that in general, aircraft crashes occur during takeoff or landing.

Informative document on cyber safety

The following link may be used to see subject information.

https://www.comprompt.co.in/cyber-safe-girl-ebook/

Wrong message to public / industries with passive / lethargic attitude of regulators

It is difficult for a traffic police person to control all violators due to his/her limitations in managing them. A person can't stop all violators passingby. Similarly a regulatory authority person can't inspect all factories all the time or keep watch on activities and take action. It is humanly impossible.

But, whatever is observed and is within the approach, regulatory personnel should take to task. For whatever reasons, let it be frustration or personal, if even these observed violations are not tasked, then the violators will of the impression that they can get away and the chance of penalty or regulatory action is minimal.

As regulators are paid for ensuring prevention of violations, whatever comes to notice has to be regulated. Atleast this type of actions will send message that one can't go scotfree. 

Poor concepts on safety

Many managerial position officials think that safety means using personal protective equipment (PPE) like safety shoe, helmet, safety belt, etc.

But, it is a fact that PPE is a last line of defense to the persons. 

This is what told repeatedly by safety professionals and once people understand, they will agree.

The basis issues to be looked into start from plan, design and implementation of work area, equipment, etc where by incorporating safety as an inherent part, hazards can be taken care so that they do not lead to any unsafe conditions.

If the above fails, then PPE will help the person to minimize the consequence, if not protecting in total.

It is sad that even those persons who work in shopfloor and are likely to come in contact with hazards too do not care about their own personal safety.

People do not try to identify the hazards existing or arising in work place or even if they are known, not taken to the notice of line managers effectively either because of not giving importance or because of fear of facing rebuke. But, who will suffer.

If the line managers do not act or do not take the information on hazards properly, then they should be made to understand by complaining to next level or taking to the notice of safety department. 

The problems lies with line managers too. If they go to shopfloor everyday and see the areas with proper perspective, they too can understand as they are accountable for shopfloor safety as per Factories Act or other such legislations. If nothing else is applicable, we have IPC sections under which one can be charged under 302, 304, 304-A etc.

Once persons understand and initiative is taken, they also see to it that it is implemented at the earliest and one should not take umbrella under the pretext of delays from other agencies. It all depends on how much convinced the line manager is and his willingness to act further.

Health problems with long driving in auto gear cars

It is reported that persons driving auto gear cars for long distances need to take certain precautions to protect their health. It is advised to take break after 1-2 hours of drive to do some exercise.
It is reported that person driving automatic car will not use left leg and there is a valve in leg to control blood flow to the heart. Other information is available in the news paper report.
The news paper report in this aspect is given below.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/why-long-drives-in-automatic-cars-may-be-dangerous-for-you/articleshow/72182040.cms 


I got certain doubts about this, but may be it depends on person to person. The person referred in the news report is driver. However, the other occupants in the vehicle will be sitting throughout the journey whereas the driver will be moving atleast one leg.

Another question that arises is what about persons with amputated legs.

Accidents from opening of doors of vehicles

Persons on the road driving two wheelers or walking get injured or die when they were hit by the opening of doors of other vehicle users. This is because the person opening the door will not observe the traffic coming from behind or the persons walking. When the door hits, these persons may fall under other vehicles.

It is suggested to have sliding doors instead of outward opening doors for all vehicles so that the impact from such incidents can be reduced. Best is, to have doors on one side like in buses. But, this may not be practicable. Further, it depends on the road sense of other persons driving vehicles.

Air filling pressure tank burst

In an incident, the pressurized air filling tank bursts, a peace flies for about 100 m and falls on a boy readying for school. It causes wrist injury.

The pressure will be about 10 kg/sq.cm in normal conditions. The incident happened makes us to ensure that the equipment is checked for its integrity, connections and utility on regular basis.

Chlorine release in restaurant from mixing of bleach with cleaner

In a restaurant, chlorine release from use of floor cleaner possibly mixed or contacted with window cleaner that contains ammonia.
https://local12.com/news/local/chemical-blamed-for-deadly-reaction-in-mass-restaurant-common-in-local-eateries

As per information in internet, the following link provides useful information about chemical reaction of bleach with ammonia and other chemicals, in which harmful gases are liberated.

https://www.organic-chemistry.org/chemicals/oxidations/sodiumhypochlorite.shtm

Hyderabad traffic danger spots

https://m.timesofindia.com/city/hyderabad/proceed-with-caution-secbad-houses-13-accident-black-spots/amp_articleshow/71780559.cms

Question of cost of safety!

Safety is costly, you know!

Any caution on safety is not costly. It may appear costly with respect to money, time, presumed slowness in reaching immediate targets, etc. But, if something is found to be missing w.r.t. ensuring safety and it needs resources to correct it doesn't mean it is added cost.
We have to thank our luck that nothing happened till such time and that somehow the deficiency or lapse was seen by somebody and got an opportunity to rectify it.
Nothing goes waste when we allocate resources meant for enforcing or improving workplace. Those who suffered due to incidents/accidents can tell the impact faced by them, till their memory retains.
Generally, people will forget the lessons and repeat the mistakes in same or different form.
Repetition of mistakes and resultant accidents make the interested parties sick of the way the organization is being run with shortsightedness.
Strict control only appears to work, but how long this can go on depends on mental stamina of the persons in controlling positions.
I think we are destined to suffer at different intervals due to failure to follow the procedures meant for safety of persons/property/environment/etc and when the loss is huge, then the whole organization suffers, may lead to closure.

Lightning induced blast

In a crusher quarry, two blasters placed gelatin sticks in the place. Before igniting it, there was huge rain with lightning which lead to blast. The stones fell on the persons and they died at the spot.

Fall of crane trolley - death of person under

As per news paper report, A civil engineer died due to fall of crane trolley from top. The wire rope snapped leading to fall of trolley. It appears warning sign boards were not there to prevent movement of persons.

The offence was registered by police under Indian Penal Code Section 304 (causing death due to negligence) against the project engineer and safety supervisor.
Such incidents can be prevented by barricading the area under loads being lifted, placing caution boards and ensuring supervision.

construction worker injured as Pump House Collapses

LINK

https://www.thehansindia.com/andhra-pradesh/under-construction-pump-house-collapsed-in-tirupati-548198

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/under-construction-bldg-collapse-kills-one-injures-5/articleshow/70311376.cms

As per news reports as above, 5 persons got injured and one person died during the slab laying work for a pump house. Total about 35 persons are at work spot with six on the roof and another five below. It appears from television report that officers are not present during the work. Questions are raised on quality, supervision, etc for the incident.

There are several such incidents reported in the media, from time to time.

The reasons  for such incidents and measures required are generally as below:

• Civil work is done in some sites based on rule of thumb or based on the knowledge / experience / perception of persons without proper design or approval from design engineer
• Successful execution of similar works without design gives confidence / presumed authority for taking up such works in larger scale
• Work is left to ground level workmen thereby not verifying the quality of work.
• The form work / staging work / scaffold made for laying the slab needs to confirm to design
• Design drawing should be complied during erection and to be verified for conformity with the drawing before going for slab concreting
• Checking the form work peripherally will not help as any deficiencies inside as well as under the proposed slab sheeting can lead to serious accidents
• Supervision from the firm issuing work order is required in addition to supervision from the executing agency, during the work as there can be compromise 
• Minimum number of persons just sufficient for the work should be at site
• No person should be present under and around the slab work
• The approaches to the construction site should be available without obstructions for use in emergency
• Offset / gap between building and road should be ensured so that in case of collapse, the fallen material will not block the access for emergency services
• Persons engaged for work should be medically fit. It is better to provide food before and during the work and refreshments to the persons engaged in the work by the executing agency itself as some of the persons can be very poor and take work to earn livelihood
• Better to use steel for form work irrespective of height of work. Some agencies use wooden poles and eccentricity can be seen by persons going nearby. Doubts will arise immediately to the viewer that when this will fall. The gap on horizontal and vertical directions also will be so high that persons going nearby will be scared about its stability.
• Work should not be taken up in heavy wind or rain as scaffold can collapse
• In many sites ladder / access to reach point of work will not be available and persons are seen climbing up or down like monkeys jump from one branch to another or by sliding or climbing. This is unsafe and can lead to fall of persons.
• Sufficient illumination is to be planned and provided so that work can be done even in darkness with clear visibility.

Developing the First Ever Facility for the Safe Disposal of Spent Fuel

Developing the First Ever Facility for the Safe Disposal of Spent Fuel

LINK

Some measures for improving environment

With time, villages are becoming towns, towns to cities, cities to metros. Increased urbanization is demanding development of infrastructure. Once barren lands or green areas are now become concrete structures. 

There is demand for land, water, electricity, roads, houses, etc. Increased population is leading to more and more vehicles on the roads and pollution levels are on the rise. There are vehicles everywhere on the road. Persons are not considering having own parking areas inside their buildings. Vehicles are parked on the public roads leading to congestion. 

Cold and fever which were once seen for short duration are now not cured even after a month of suffering. 

To improve environment, I feel that we should fix population density in terms of number of persons per unit area. Along with it, we also need to fix green density. Town planners need to consider this while issuing permission. There should not be any scope for regularization of unauthorized constructions. If anybody violates, instead of regularization, penalties need to be collected and the ownership of  illegally constructed properties should go to government. No appeal shall be entertained in this regard.

Similarly, owners of vehicles parked on the roads shall be punished.

Rainwater harvesting and soak pits shall be part of every area developed. The percentage of area for this also should be fixed and to be followed.

For existing buildings, time frame of six months or one year to be given and these requirements to be complied. There should not be any extensions. And huge penalties to be imposed on violators. 

On my commute to workplace, I see places with no water and wastage of water. People use water for washing and the washed water flows on the water. In some areas, people wait for water tankers to collect the little whatever they can get hold. Every service should be charged for its actual cost. 

Amount of Nuclear Material under IAEA Safeguards Continues to Increase: Safeguards Statement 2018

Amount of Nuclear Material under IAEA Safeguards Continues to Increase: Safeguards Statement 2018

LINK

Faith / belief

Somewhere I read that if you believe in something, it can happen. I have mood swings on this statement. Sometimes, I experience it and other times, it all appears non-sense. 

A reading of religious teachings makes me to agree that faith will lead to the change. The holy personalities in the ancient times made persons suffering from diseases to be healthy, make dead man alive. The curse by them became a reality those times (as per books). In Hinduism, holy men sprinkled water on the persons either to bless or curse. 

Now a days, in whatsapp, everyday, several messages are received. Some of them say think, believe and do good. I feel there is nothing in wrong in praying or wishing good for all. 

Having faith alone is not enough. We have to be good mentally and physically. It will give peace of mind and possibly do good to the individual, family, friends and the society.

We do not believe such things easily because the preachers whom we see mostly do not practice what they say and this makes us to ridicule their sayings. The person may be wrong but the sayings may not be wrong.

Look at history to get the knowledge. May be over a period of thousands of years, there can be some misconceptions crept in. But, definitely there will be knowledge to see objectively and follow it. 

So, let us think good, do good and wish good for all. It will bring change within us and in the society also.

Too much illumination on streets

With the intention of good infrastructure, mobility, security, etc governments are striving hard for better facilities. One among them is street lights. But, this lighting has become so much that it has become excessive. In addition, the lighting provided by commercial establishment for bill boards, name boards, street side display boards, etc are adding to the illumination further. This looks like wastage of resources in generation, distribution and usage of power. Instead of providing street lights, local authorities may think of providing high mast lights which provide illumination to a large area and I think, it will save power also. Else, street lights at 100 m apart may be enough. Anyway, in main streets, the shops will be open till 2300-0000 hours and lighting from them will help the street users.

In inner areas, high mast lights appear to be sufficient. This will save valuable resources, power bills and maintenance charges.

Need for more safety officers, statutes are not favorable

Different state rules specify availability of safety officers at 4-6 in organizations employing as high as 10000.

But, this is grossly inadequate. A safety officer has to just walk through without stopping to cover such huge number of employees working particularly in construction/mining industries. And, then, if he observes any unsafe act or condition, he has to make a stopover and discussion will make the time available less for remaining areas. Then, to perform other duties like report making, coordination with statutory bodies, interactive meetings to brief management, etc does not make him to do his job fully.

Atleast one safety officer is required for every 250 personnel working so that he can perform his duty effectively. One may argue that nobody stops to engage more than statutory requirement. But, only few organizations have such attitude to engage more safety officers.

End of financial year - some to do listing

As the end of March month is approaching, industrial establishments will be working at frantic pace to meet their annual financial year production targets. It is likely that here and there safety requirements are skipped thereby increasing the risk.

It is better to plan testing of equipment like cranes, hoists, other material handling equipment, pressure vessels, safety relief valves, calibration of instruments,  inspection and repairs of structures and buildings, painting of equipment/piping/structures, preventive maintenance of equipment, load centres, transformers, PDBs, DG sets; cleaning of drains, etc in the beginning of the financial year at which time stress levels are supposed to be low compared to the last quarter of a financial year. Even refresher courses can be planned and conducted wherein managers will relieve their staff to attend the programmes. 

This will facilitate ensuring readiness of men and machinery and other infrastructure for safe work without accidents, incidents.

Safety monitoring should be done more stringently during peak production periods which will indicate the safety culture of the organization in times of pressures all around.

Accident reduction - meetings before start of work with executiing agencies

Use of persons on contract or by outsourcing is widely favored by organizations in manufacturing. The reasons being saving on wage bills compared to regular employees (unless persons engaged are highly skilled / specialized where they are paid higher than regular employees).

Generally, the awareness on hazards and safety measures to be followed are better with regular employees as compared to outsourced personnel who are prone to accidents due to poor awareness.

It is always better to have meetings with interested contractors, their site supervisor and site safety supervisor to discuss about the scope of work under the work order, the hazards in the work area, hazards likely to arise during execution of work and safety procedures to be followed along with company's safety policy and requirements. This will help them to understand and to follow. It is better to include penal clauses also for violations by listing so that clarity will be there on both sides. 

This practice will help to understand the issues and quote accordingly for the work. It is observed from accident reports in news papers / journals that contractors do not understand or ignore the requirements and once accident takes place, they will run away from the scene / abscond or cut sorry face facing the enquiry.

It is always a good practice to explain safety requirements to prospective agencies before issue of work order.

Intolerance to safety is not tolerable.

In any workplace, if employees are ignorant of safety procedures, they can be identified easily and can be trained. But, if persons are arrogant to comply with safety requirements even after gaining the knowledge, then they are more dangerous and can endanger the lives of others also. 

 Such persons should be summarily dismissed from the jobs and shown the door. These types of persons will even spoil the work place safety culture and can set a bad example for learners.

Intolerance to safety is not tolerable.

Why only safety department should see the deficiencies? why not the line staff?

It is a misconception in several industries that safety is the responsibility of safety department. Production staff feel that their job is only production. They do not give a thought for ensuring safety in their work, i.e. keeping the work areas free from hazards. They may be seeing these hazards, day in and day out, but little action is taken in addressing the same. The safety department when points the same, no action or little action is taken. And, when some incident happens, that time production department puts a sorry face or blame game is kicked off. They say that it is not their job or they have given request to maintenance department or why safety department did not caution in advance or even if cautioned why they did not tell about the consequences and so on.

Persons, should not concentrate only on production activities at the cost of lack of safety, for the sake of furthering their careers. They should not ignore safety and allow things to go unsafely in their domain of work. Just ordering subordinates to ensure safety is not sufficient. Doing work unsafely will not enhance productivity in the long run. May be in a project, there were no accidents inspite of unsafe work culture. But, that is because of some luck i.e. all unsafe parameters did not converge, by fluke. But, this can not be a norm. And, safe practices do not delay the work. In fact, in the long run, safety will enhance the productivity. If it is found such arrogant managers are there, management should sack them without hesitation. Because, these are the persons who do not mind in jumping the ship in case of change of situation. Visibility of the managers in shopfloor and interaction with field staff frequently is required. This will help the managers to see the things as it is and also learn what are the issues faced by field personnel so that appropriate actions and allocation of resources can be done. 

In general, safety departments anywhere do not have the authority to cut power supply or prevent persons from doing the work where hazards are present. As it is, safety department functions in advisory capacity only. Only those managements which do understand the importance of having safety in the workplace lend an ear to the safety department. And in these places, employees too will be happy and join hands for higher productivity.

How many organizations stop the work if a hazard is spotted and restart only after taking corrective and preventive actions is debatable. One may tell that safety is first. But, I am not sure in how many places really it receives top priority.

In general, production, quality and safety take slots from top to bottom in that order. Even those who got statutory powers to enforce safety also will have second thoughts before taking the violating organizations to court of law. This can be said firmly due to the accidents taking place in the production facilities and how many of these were found guilty and taken to task in inspections. Under staffing and having support facilities to regulators is also one of the reasons for this. 

What is required is self discipline and strict implementation of statutory provisions and strengthening of the hands of regulators. Any violation should lead to total stoppage of the facility. Any person in the organization should be able to tell hazards in the place and take to the notice of concerned for rectification. Persons identifying shall not be ridiculed or punished. 

Similarly, one should not think that punishing by fines or paying compensation will control the situation. Just ordering fines is not enough. It is said nobody can put a value to the life. It is not a commodity to assign a value. The compensations offered for an injury or death during accidents really do not have any meaning. It is to be seen by life value assessors in the perspective that what value they find for their own life in case of an injury or fatality. A person earning something may earn many times of it either in the same company or different company or by self employment. There are many cases where persons started career as peons, paper boys, etc have become millionaires and provided employment to many. Then what is the value for emotional attachment with family and friends. 

Forklift safety

As per a blog article, 100000 personnel are injured / killed in forklift accidents in US, siting OSHA.

The article throws light into possible reasons for accidents and what is to be done.

Leadership and safety management

A presentation on the title is available HERE.

Safety - luck(?) or duck(0)

Everyday we face many situations that are nearmisses let it be at home, on road or at work place. I think we are all lucky several times a day, most of the days. Whether it is our mistake or of others, we go to bed without pain. There are those few occasions when we get some hit or we hit somebody to call it an accident.

This luck so many times a days, for so many days makes us to think we are super heroes and nothing happens to us. GOD bless us. 

Let us use our common sense and be careful. Let us not look at the past to pat ourselves that we are right. We are wrong at most of the times.

Let us educate ourselves and others and do not depend on the luck to be safe. Else, we will be DUCK OUT one day.